Wires
by Pawluxae
Summary: What is it that drives us to move? To go to swim practice, to go to school? Perhaps it's signals in the brain, but for a high school sophomore by the name of Sollux Captor, it's a inspired romantic feeling and a hell of a lot of wires.
1. Tangible Wires

A/N - I haven't the slightest of ideas where inspiration to write something like this came from. Oh well. Have this mess. I hope to one day clean this up. For now, I think I'm just going to write a few chapters and see where I want this to go.

Three.

The familiar freshness and bubbles flutter about your face, foggy condensation blocking your suffering vision. The way your body stretches, your arm placed just so.

Two.

A slight ache buds in your lungs, as if you can feel someone bluntly pushing a dull knife against your ribs, tapping it nervously like a caged bird.

One.

Your body screams for air, the red hot knife finally entering with a flash a pain, bursts of white spotting your vision as a small part of you dies, your heart racing and your eyes shining with the thin film of tears before they are formed.

Air.

Finally.

You take your breath, a relief from the mere three strokes you just took. Swimming is a sport for the strong, and as far as you are concerned, you are rather weak, a creature of the night who delicately taps his keyboard keys and is beautiful only in knowledge and mind.

You will complete this process thousands of time in a day, dying and dying and reviving and reviving.

Of course, comes the end, and not the sweet release of death.

The end of swim practice.

Your body is racked with pains and burning fire, inflamed by chlorinated water.

There are twelve of you who have just gone through this awful process, most of you gasping for air that isn't there.

Each of you claw your way out of the water, limbs slick with water and perhaps sweat had it not been washed away.

The varsity team this year is a small one, consisting of six girls and six boys, each determined to complete this early morning practice and get to their escape.

Isn't it funny that school is release from practice?

Of course, school was never a problem for you, Sollux Captor.

The curriculum was nothing but a joke to you and your brain, packed full of information, codes, and enough pain to haunt you for the rest of your life.

Had you been short, you would have been taunted and teased, pushed around for being better.

But you had been gifted with incredible height, even if you were a stick skinny thing that resembled something like a spider.

No, not a spider.

More like one of those cartoon cats with spindly legs and arched bodies that were never positioned quite right.

You and your cat legs make their way to the locker room, graceful in a frightening, grotesque way.

Standing there are your best friends, of course.

One being a short spitfire, with his thick form and angry mannerisms.

The other being another creature who joins you in bumping his head on the clouds, but perhaps with a tad more tone and flesh.

Karkat Vantas and Eridan Ampora.

The two of them combined were enough to drive anyone insane, not to mention your input as well.

Between Karkat and you bickering, Eridan and you bickering, Karkat and Eridan bickering, and the insane mix of all three of you bickering, it was no wonder you three were avoided, lest someone be sucked into a space of shouts and angst to never return.

Funny, isn't it?

Anywho, you have no time to ponder past and current relations with your companions, you have changing to do.

You brush past the two, your lips pressed together and your mind unusually quiet without the buzzing of voices, music to drown out the voices, or screaming to drown out the music to drown out the voices.

We'll learn a little bit about your 'episodes' at a later point, even though you were about to thoughtfully dive into the screaming matches between you and yourself that started years ago.

A clammy hand is on your shoulder, its grip cold and unrelenting as it swings you around.

"Were in 'ell do you think yer goin', Sol?"

Ah yes. The fish prince that made your life awful in preschool, livable in elementary school, hell in middle school, and seemed to be on the fence about whether or not he wanted you dead in highschool.

"To change, where else?" you question.

Of course you would question. Being the beginning, our audience hardly knows what a talkative and needy twit you are, so walking to get changed without starting a conversation with destructive duo is hardly an oddity.

Karkat's normal scowl shifts to a look of concern, proving just how soft he really is.

He'd make your heart melt into useless goo if it weren't the bites of reality that steal every bit of happiness from you.

You jerk out of Eridan's grip, going straight for a stall and locking the door. The other boys were busy changing and hadn't noticed the tense moment that just erupted.

You hear your friends muttering.

They think you're crazy.

Probably.

Your jeans are on and some raggedy t-shirt is slipped over your head.

Stuffing everything into your swim bag, you sling it over your shoulder and open the door;

everyone except one of the boys have gone to get breakfast out by the pool.

Equius Zahhak, the third best on the team. Rich snob. It doesn't help that he's three times your size and probably ten times as strong.

You nod to him quickly while he stares at you until you skitter out the door to grab a bagel (or two).

Not looking at your friends, you slather cream cheese onto a bagel and stuff it into your mouth, grabbing some apple juice and fumbling for your keys.

Your fingers curl around them, and you head for the door.

"Hey!" shouts Karkat, panting as he runs to catch up with you, "You're our ride, stupid, remember?"

"Getting the car warmed up."

The lie falls out of your mouth so easily that it scares you. The honeyed words slip out without a second thought on your part.

You hadn't even thought of your friends. You were just planning on leaving.

"God, wait up. Can't wait for two seconds, can 'e, Karkat?"

Alright. Looks as though you are their ride, whether you like it or not.

Your keys jangle and you head for the door, opening it. As Karkat brushes past you, your phone slips from your hand, falling.

It hits the sidewalk with a crack, making you jump. You reach down and grab it, examining the shards.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry Sollux!" calls Karkat.

Eridan places a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder.

"No...it's okay. My plan gets me a new one in a few days anyway," you lie, again. In fact, you had no idea when you could afford a new one.

But you didn't want Karkat to blame himself.

Stuffing your bag in the trunk, you slip into the driver's seat, putting your phone in the cup holder.

You glance at it once more as you start the car.

Wires.


	2. Well Intended Wires

A/N - I gave up on this chapter twice. I finally reread it and got a couple ideas. The next chapter with probably be more of a flashback sort of deal, background information. It's hard to round characters. Make them seem real. Oh well. It's never too early to start romantic tension. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. On a side note, I might try some POV changes.

Pulling up to the school in your old car that has long since seen an auto shop, you park in your designated spot, turning off the car. Your passengers gather their stuff, ready to hurry into the building that stops the creeping chill of winter with sputtering heat that is inconsistent but better than the sleeping car.

You sigh deeply, pausing, your keys clutched in your hand.

You decide your shattered phone will just have to remain in the car while you go through a day of spouting information and dealing with crippling social anxiety.

Oh well.

You exit the vehicle, popping the trunk and pulling out your bookbag, heaving with all your might to get the book filled sack away from your car and onto your back.

Karkat and Eridan loop their arms into their bookbags, and you slam the trunk shut.

Another car door shuts softly, and your middle school crush appears around the corner of a pleasant gray car.

Feferi Peixes.

Now, let's take a moment emphasize that she was your _middle school_ crush.

There are absolutely no lingering feelings except for the fact that she is one of your friends.

You thinks she's great and all, but you are not ashamed to admit that you are simply too gay to find interest in a wonderful young woman such as Peixes.

You two exchange pleasant greetings while Eridan does a little spin and hurries toward the school.

You'll never understand.

You say something, Feferi giggles in her bubbly way. Same stuff, everyday.

Highschool is lame.

Overrated.

Freshman year was a joke, and sophomore year provides naught a difficulty for a learned student such as yourself.

A wall of heat hits your waterlogged group as you open the door.

You send a polite farewell to Feferi and Eridan, then head towards your study hall, which (luckily) is with your small angry friend.

You duck into the room, quickly settling into a seat.

A few minutes pass, the bell rings, and the usual dull chattering and muffled melodies of headphones turned up too loud ensuing.

Per the usual.

Everything is so melodramatic or dull to you, the usual hubbub of social interaction and classes a worn out idea.

You stare into space, and don't even do your usual routine of pulling out your stuff for the day.

Karkat, who has been onto you since the begin, now realizes something is very wrong.

"Sollux. Sollux. Earth to Sollux. Hello?" he says, the words registering dimly in your brain.

You pull yourself from your catatonic state, looking at him with your mismatched eyes.

"Hmm?" you say distractedly, blue and brown flickering as you look around.

"What's up with you? First, you don't even take a break at practice. Second, you brush us off after. You really upset Eridan. Third, I break your phone and you don't even blink. And now, you're somewhere off in Lala Land, where even my loud mouth is having trouble grabbing your attention. Don't tell me you're fine, don't tell me you're just tired, or that swim practice was harder than usual. We've been friends since third grade, can't you just let me in on why you're acting like an idiot?"

Ah. Karkat's tirades.

Never ending as they may be, he usually makes a good point. Usually you have a hard time concentrating on what he's saying.

Half because he talks a lot, half because you constantly find yourself getting lost in those maroon eyes, his black hair casting shadows over them.

But you caught most of what he just said.

So of course, with smooth Captor charm, you respond.

"Um. Dunno." you mutter seductively.

Karkat is not amused.

That fiery light comes to his eyes, and he stands straight up.

"Tell me when you're ready to talk, or just stay away," he growls, heading for the door.

He swings it open, and you call for him to stop.

"Wait!" you yell, attempting to disentangle yourself from your desk while everyone looks over at the scene.

He vanishes into the hallway, and you are finally free. You run after him, your old shoes slamming on the dirty floor of the hallway. You see him vanish into the bathroom, and swing yourself around the edge of the door, dashing inside.

Silence. You look around, and find that one of the stalls is closed.

"Karkat?" you call softly, walking over to it, your nose inches from the door.

"What!?" he yells, pulling it open harshly, and suddenly oh no oh no oh no you really regret not resolving your feelings long before this.

Karkat's face is right where the door was, not even a foot separating your faces.

He stands there in what could be shock for a few seconds before backing up a pace.

Your body is stiff and tense, your eyes locked onto his. Your palms brush up against your jeans, and you don't breath.

"S-Sorry," you say, a hint of your old lisp entering your voice. It only happens when you're really upset, and Karkat knows this. His shoulders slump, and he sighs.

"No, shut up. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you to talk about something you aren't ready."

"Diethelm lost his job."

"What? Your dad has got to be the best computer engineer on the planet! How?"

You have no answer, you just hope to God you don't cry, and ask the age old question, kind of a joke between you and Karkat.

"Are we still friends?"

"Really? Yes, Captor, of course we're still friends, you idiot," he says.

Now or never. Your stomach roils and you feel as though you might throw up. Three years. Three years of waiting to say something to him. To start something.

Instead of saying something incredibly suave or intelligent, you blow it by throwing your arms around him, holding him in a tight hug.

Wires.


	3. Spiked Wires

A/N - Sorry that this is super short. Feeling a little unmotivated, and this story isn't my top priority, what with finals coming up. Highschool is a pain. Could I pretty pretty pretty please get a review or two? That may seem a tad desperate, and perhaps I am, but if anyone wants a chapter before Christmas, I'm gonna need an impelling force.

As much as you hate yourself right now, it seems that Karkat finds you tolerable, so you'll just have to be okay with that.

You trust his judgement more than yours, anywho, so who's to say he's not right about you?

Perhaps there's hope to make you a decent person after all.

Sitting in your third period, Digital Media 101, you have a lot of time to think. The whole class is learning how to work with, drumroll, Google Docs. Exciting.

You could have found your way around here when you were four. The only things graded are the tests and quizzes, which you couldn't fail if you tried.

"Oh my ever living lord above, does he ever shut up?" whispers a girl to your left. You recognize her from swim team. You realize the girl on your other side is on the team as well.

"I don't think so. Thank God I can't see, or he'd probably blind me a second time," the other one replies, adjusting a pair of weird red shades.

You know these two.

They're both new this year, a pair of step sisters who had probably never been separated since the day they met.

The first speaker is Vriska Serket, a girl with long blond hair with blue tips and a punk attitude and wardrobe. She looks and acts as though she kicks puppies and kittens for fun.

The second is Terezi Pyrope, a blind ginger with a wicked smile and the kind of voice that makes you want to bang your head against a rock, then throw it at her. She'd probably lick the blood off.

You sigh audibly, and they both lock onto you.

Oh dear.

"What's that?"

"Got a problem?"

"What do you say we feed him to Toothless."

"Terezi, we can't feed him to your dog."

"Why?"

"Go push him in front of a car or something."

"But you already did that! Poor girl."

"Oh shut up."

Enough of this.

"Hello? Right here!" you harshly whisper, frustration creeping into your voice.

"Oh dear. Hello! Simon, was it?" Terezi says in a polite tone.

"Sollux."

"Sollux, then. Sorry, I hope you realize we're joking. Mostly," she giggles, snorting.

"Whatever. Don't listen to her. I'm the cool one. Name's Vriska. And that monstrosity is Terezi."

The blond speaks with a cold edge on her voice, and you decide you don't trust her. Mostly you wonder how she gets that hair dye to stay despite over an hour of chlorine contact a day. Witchcraft.

"I am not a monstrosity."

"Whatever, I already know your names. You're on the swim team," you say, dimly aware that you have 30 seconds of class left.

They look at each other, and nod.

"Alright. We've decided to give you a chance." Vriska grins.

"For?" you start to ask, but the bell rings.

"See you in class tomorrow!" yells Terezi, the two of them hopping over desks and running out the door.

Okay. That was...weird. You aren't sure what's up with these two, and you see why Eridan said to avoid them like the plague. However, it seems that they've become interested in you, and the prey doesn't simply get to tell the predators to go away.

You're snarled in their claws.

Wires.


	4. Family Wires

A/N - There are going to be a lot of people who won't like this chapter. Perhaps it's a little far fetched, but my headcanons are my headcanons and I'm the author here. I'll just insert in here a trigger warning for abuse. If you aren't familiar with swimming terms, skip to the end of the chapter to check those out real quick. If someone would like me to, I'll make a separate document or reference page for later so you don't have to keep jumping back here. The title of the chapter is kind of a spin-off of the term 'family ties', so keep that in mind, I guess. This is just a tad longer than the first chapter. Sorry for SUPER long A/N, please read terms at bottom and enjoy reading!

Pulling up into your driveway after a ridiculously long day of school, you sigh and sit for a few minutes before shutting off the old piece of metal and opening the door. You grab your stuff and find your key to the one story house, which is made of sturdy brick.

You insert the key into the side door, and very quietly open the door.

Usually your brother is hell bent on knowing exactly when you arrive home, but you're early today.

Sighing softly, you make your way towards your room, pushing the door back.

Wait, no!

It slams decisively, and you hear a faint, "Thollux!?"

Oh no. Not good. Abort mission, you repeat, abort mission!

You dash for your room, and your hand is on the doorknob when your brother swings you around to face him, your face pallid with fear.

"Why didn't you tell me you were home?" he asks, voice dripping with sweetness.

"I..uh...thought maybe you were...busy."

"...Busy."

He knows you're full of shit.

"Yea-"

Your words are cut short as he delivers a blow to your stomach, pushing all of your breath out of your body. Your brother has always been a bit of a bully to you, but things went downhill fast after his accident.

Your father doesn't know.

It's your "brother secret".

Meaning that you tell your dad, and Mituna will punch your lights out. Which he already does. But he'll probably leave you with more than a headache and a few bruises.

He punches your jaw, and you let out a small gasp of pain. You slide down the floor, putting your hand up to wield him off.

Your brother grabs your arm and twists, hard.

You feel tears forming at the edges of your vision until he lets go, hearing your dad pull up.

His eyes bore into yours, communicating the same message they always do. Stay quiet.

You look away, standing and slipping into your room, dropping your bag on your bed and sitting on your chair that is spun away from your desk.

You hear your dad walk in and ask how your brother is. He's been doing better lately. Feeling stronger and more mentally sound.

You're not sure.

After spending a few hours filling out worksheets and doing some reading, you silently tiptoe into the kitchen, making a sandwich quickly and retreating to your room.

You sit on the floor with all your papers and wolf down your sandwich, listening to the water run in the bathroom right next to your bedroom.

You burrow under the covers of your bed, and quickly fall asleep.

It seems you have only blinked when your alarm goes off, making an awful beeping noise.

Not wanting to wake your family, you quickly press the snooze button. You rise and turn the light on, finding the off switch and turning the alarm off. You grab your damp swim bag, shoving a shirt in and dashing out the door.

Your car rumbles to live, and you're unfocused most of the drive there, swerving once to avoid plowing into the side of a van.

You jump out as soon as you get there, opening the door the aquatic center and feeling the rush of damp warmth, your glasses fogging up.

Vision blurred, you head into the boy's locker room and get changed slowly, savoring your earliness.

Snagging your goggles and swim cap on the way out, you open the door to the main area, watching everyone come in and mill around.

After a few minutes, your coach decides that you all have had enough time to get properly woken up, and orders everyone on the blocks for track and relay starts.

You end up third in line, and watch as the first person, Feferi, executes a perfect track start and dives into the water with only a small splash.

As she turns back to finish the 50 a few seconds later, the boy in front of you, Tavros Nitram, wobbles uncertainly on the block.

As she reaches for the finish, he follows her with his hands and swings around his arms in something resembling a wind up.

He flings himself forward, flopping into the water ungracefully and begins struggling to swim his 50.

You get on top of the block and line up your hands, but you still have a while to wait. A good minute later, Tavros is close to the wall.

You follow him and complete your windup, diving into the pool with considerably more grace that Tavros.

You're in the locker room after practice when you come to the horrible realization that you have no pants.

Of course, there are the pants you came in, however they are two sizes too large and covered in an awful black and yellow pattern.

You sigh lowly, and pull yourself up to the top of the stall your in, peeking over the top.

"Karkat!" you whisper-yell, drop back down.

A few seconds later, you hear his voice outside your stall.

"What is it, Captor? I've got tutoring this morning with Vriska's sister."

You sigh and say as quietly as you can, "I don't have any pants."

"Louder, please. I'm not deaf, but I'm no dog either."

"I am missing a pair of pants."

Karkat pauses for a few seconds.

"...And?"

Releasing air through your nose, it comes out as a frustrated sigh.

"I just wanted to let you know I'm going to school in just my underwear, thought you'd like to know."

"Oh my god, are you serious Sollux!?"

"No I'm not serious, idiot! I'm asking for some goddamn pants!"

"And you think you're going to fit mine!?"

"I don't know!"

Your heated debate had grown louder, most likely drawing the attention of your swim teammates.

A voice chimes from the corner of the room, "I have extra clothes if anyone needs them."

"Thank ya' very much, Tav."

Eridan's hand appears at the top of your stall and drops a pair of jeans into the small area, the rough material landing at your feet.

You mutter a thanks and pull them on, cramming everything back into the bag leaning against the side of the stall.

You walk out and see Karkat in the corner, attempting to dry his hair. He looks like he's purposefully avoiding your gaze, and you realize why.

His cheeks are a bright shade of scarlet, and you allow yourself a small smile that quickly fades as you hiss in lowkey pain.

These jeans are too tight, and you can hardly breathe.

Wires.

Swimming terms -

Swim cap - A plastic cap to keep all of a swimmer's hair tucked away

Block - The raised platform that competitive swimmers dive off of to start their races (ONLY to be used by TRAINED COMPETITIVE SWIMMERS. You CAN hurt yourself on these.)

Track start - Hands are gripped at the edge of the block, and feet are scissored. A crouched position

Relay start - The swimmer follows the other person in the water until their head reaches the T (Lines in the pool), then swing their arms around (Commonly referred to as the windup) and launch themselves forward with feet and momentum

50 - One full lap


	5. The Order of Swimming Wires

Sorry, no chapter. Just wanted to clarify this. This list is ordered by best swimmers on the swim team. Mostly for reference.

1\. Feferi Peixes (Junior)

2\. Eridan Ampora (Sophomore)

3\. Equius Zahhak (Senior)

4\. Vriska Serket (Sophomore)

5\. Sollux Captor (Sophomore)

6\. Kanaya Maryam (Junior)

7\. Terezi Pyrope (Sophomore)

8\. Karkat Vantas (Sophomore)

9\. Nepeta Leijon (Freshman)

10\. Aradia Megido (Junior)

11\. Gamzee Makara (Senior)

12\. Tavros Nitram (Freshman)


	6. Hellish Wires

A/N - Holy goodness. I haven't written a chapter since, what, December 17ish? Earlier? Oh well. I was enjoying my winter break. This is the first time I've even opened my laptop since the 18th. So, for a late Christmas gift (whoops) I think I'll do something? Leave a review with ideas, if you'd like. If I don't get any suggestions, I'll just not do anything, and assume y'all don't care. Also, may I direct your attention to the new cover art. It sucks. I drew it. I'll make a new one. This is short and my author's note is too long. Sue me.

Oh my everliving jesus christ above.

You can hardly walk, and you're 95% sure that these jeans cut off the last of your circulation to your feet a good ten minutes ago.

This must be what it feels like to die.

You slip your thumb under the waistband and slide it around, noticing the red lines from the jean's tightness.

You checked your locker as you came in, hoping to God you left a pair of sweats or something in there. Nope.

The nurse has a change of clothes, but you'd rather not feel anything knee down than wear what she has to offer.

You strain down the hall in your tourniquet, and enter homeroom, leaning against the door for support.

The room is cold, chilled air from the January morning drifting in from an open window.

You walk to your usual seat, and notice Karkat still not looking at you. Oh well. His loss, because as far as you're concerned, you're eye candy for the world.

You also hope the audience realizes that you're joking.

As if anyone would spend two seconds looking at a scrawny, beanpole nerd such as yourself.

With your lame band shirts.

And jeans that, remember, are slowly attempting to remove your legs from your body.

Truly a spectacle to gaze upon, right?

Not quite.

Alright, let's check your agenda for today.

It appears you'll be doing two things.

Avoiding Vantas (to create romantic tension, of course. You don't give up on your dreams over a pair of pants).

Avoiding Serket and Pyrope (you don't wish to be sucked into whatever in hell that is. Besides, you don't trust Serket as far as you can throw her, which wouldn't be very far).

You're very busy.

Well, busier than usual.

With Digital Media coming up, you'll be pressed to you limit to stick to your to-do list.

Karkat taps your shoulder and you're snapped out of your little dream world of mulling over your pitiful situation.

You start a little and look over at him, immediately failing yourself as far as avoiding him.

"Yeah?" you say smartly. A real charmer, you are.

"Why didn't you change?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Didn't have anything to change into, and anything the nurse would have given me would have severely crippled what social standing I have," you explain.

"Just ask Nepeta for a pair of jeans, idiot," Karkat says, raising a corner of his mouth in a slight suggestion of annoyance.

"Dude. She's half my size!" Quite frankly, you're a little surprised at the suggestion.

"And she wears clothes twice as big as she is, and shops in the male section of Target. She always has extra clothes, ever since her and Terezi had to spend an entire soaked from the creek out back because they were 'hunting'."

Karkat finishes his ramble and looks away from you.

Your choice, apparently.

Nepeta Leijon is Karkat's little cousin, and hardly even tips the scale at 100 pounds soaking wet.

She's 4 foot 11 of fiery roleplaying cat obsessed freshman, and the last time you saw her, she tackled Karkat, came for you to say goodbye after you had been at his house, and you had jumped into your car, locked the doors, and took off.

"Ok."

You seal your own doom, and after the bell rings, you start looking over heads in the hallway.

You catch a glimpse of dark ginger hair and a pair of black cat ears, and push your way to get a closer look.

That's Nepeta, alright.

"Hey, uh, Nepeta?" you call, reaching out to tap her shoulder.

She spins around, and looks up at your, a smile breaking out on her freckled face.

"Sollux! Well, Mister Catpurr, it's been a while, huh?" she asks, seeming to bear no ill will from your not so graceful escape.

"Catpurr? As in, Captor? Nevermind, I need to ask you something. Could I borrow a pair of pants? These are from Tavros and quite frankly I have lost all feeling in my legs."

She looks at you for a few seconds, blinks, and then seems to comprehend.

"My...you...oh! Yeah, okay! Follow me!" she says, and turns on her heel, walking towards a group of lockers. She spins in the combination and opens the locker, unzipping the front of what you believe to be her bag for swim.

She rustles around in it for a couple of seconds, her baggy pants slipping over the top of her shoes.

The small girl utters a muffled, "Ah-ha!" and backs up from her locker with a pair of grey sweatpants. She shuts her locker and holds the pair out, grinning.

"Here you are! Are they your size? I buy big sizes, but you must know that. You asked me after all. Oh, I'm talking myself silly here! See you in the morning, Sollux!" she says, and hefts her bookbag higher on her shoulder.

She turns around and walks back into the crowded hall.

You slip into the nearest bathroom, and as you're pulling on the pants (which fit perfectly) you decide that you like Nepeta. She's sweet and cool and although she's not that great of a swimmer, she's sort of like the team mascot.

Leaving Tavros's jeans right above his locker, you dash for Digital Media, getting in just as the bell rings.

The teacher gives you a look and goes back to describing what they'll be going over in class today.

Changing the fonts and colors in HTML sure does sound fun, but you think you'll sit this one out.

You swerve to avoid your table, but the Scourge Sisters catch your eye and you know there's nothing you can do now.

You sigh decisively and sit in your usual place, the two girls snickering on either side of you.

Wires.


	7. Dormant Wires

A/N - HOO BOY. WOW. How long has it been? I don't even know. So I have this idea, and y'all tell me what you think. If you make any art or writing based off of Wires, and it really has to be Wires, not just human Karkat and Sollux, you get to be in the exclusive (insert creative name) Club! Here, you get sneak peaks, rough drafts, my writing music playlists, and among other things, I'll hold a once a month art raffle for those in the (insert creative name) Club! Sound fun? Yes. Just let me know.

Your eyes meet the face of the digital clock by your bed and you give a deep sigh. Here you are, messing around on Youtube at 2:38 in the morning when you really need to be catching up on sleep.

Besides, you have an important presentation in history tomorrow, and as has been mentioned before, your grades have always been good and you plan to keep it that way.

You shut your laptop and chuck it towards your beanbag, hearing the soft thunk as it lands on the fabric.

Pulling your jumbled mess of covers over your shoulders and up to your chin, you almost immediately fall asleep.

Your dreams are unsettling to say the least, starting off with your entire swim team laughing their heads of as you swim, the end of the pool constantly getting further and further away.

You stop to yell at them to knock it off, but the second you open your mouth, it fills with water and you begin to drown.

Faintly, you hear Karkat calling your name.

"Sollux. Sollux! SOLLUX!"

You snap awake and throw off your covers, heaving for air.

You hear your name again along with a tap at your window.

You quickly unlatch it and pull your friend into your second story room, sighing.

"I really wish you'd stop doing this, Karkat," you say with a sleepy drawl to your voice.

He waves off your feeble attempts and sits on your bed, quietly closing the window and pulling his jacket on tighter.

"To hell with you if you think I'm not going to continue to take advantage of the fact that I live five minutes away. If I want to visit my best friend at three in the morning, I'm going to."

Fair enough.

"Point taken. Now that I'm officially getting absolutely zero sleep, care to inform me why you're here?" you question, stifling a yawn and reaching under your best, pulling out some sour candy. You pop a piece in your mouth to wake you up and offer the bag to Karkat.

He takes a piece and begins talking immediately.

"You know Aradia, right? Of course you do, you two had a thing in like fourth grade. Apparently, Vriska (the bitch who hangs with Terezi), went to her house and tried to stab her or some shit! But get this. After Eridan and I got there (he's there now), Vriska slapped him and left, and we found Aradia. She texted us when she heard someone slam on the door, because we live two minutes from there. You sure as hell know that neither of us went to sleep, so we meet up and went straight there."

"...holy shit," you mutter, looking with alarm out your window, as if you'll be able to see Aradia.

"She's okay now, and her mom's home. I thi-," Karkat leans over to check his phone, "Yeah, she's good. Eridan's on his way now."

You mentally groan, but accept the fact that there's nothing you can do. You'll have to go and open the front door, because Eridan isn't going to climb up the side of your house like Karkat did.

You motion for Karkat to stay put, and he raises his hand in acknowledgement and continues to eat your candy stash.

You roll your eyes and quietly creep through the house, holding your breath by Mituna's door.

You make it to the front door, and quickly open it, happy you remembered to oil the hinges so that it swings open silently.

You aren't worried about your dad finding you, he's away somewhere in India.

The only well paying job your dad could get quicky required a lot of traveling, and so you and your brother realized you wouldn't be seeing much of him anymore.

On the bright side, your brother was leaving you alone.

You stand outside in the cool air, waiting for Eridan to arrive.

He comes around your house in a huff, holding his pants up to his thighs.

You give a small laugh and a questioning glance.

He mutters under his breath, and moves past you into the house, "Fuckin' wet grass. Fuckin' stupid wet grass with its fuckin' dew, ruinin' my fuckin' pants."

Snickering, you follow him in, shutting the door softly and making it to your room safely.

Karkat tosses the empty wrapper into the trash and waves at Eridan, all three of you settling on your bed like a bunch of teenage girls.

You all talk and discuss and gossip until your alarm goes off, all of you jumping and Karkat even giving a squeal.

You switch the alarm off, unlocking your new phone and finding the plethora of messages from everybody about what happened the night before.

Karkat and Eridan get up and quickly leave before Mituna wakes up. They don't know how bad he is, but they know he's moody.

You slip a hoodie over your head and head out the door, registering alarm as your brother's hand grips your wrist.

Wires.


	8. Iron Wires

A/N - HolY FU C K. Let's give a round of applause for tooObsessive! What a delightful review! Thank you so much for all that! I was literally getting on to cancel the story because I have zero motivation, but your words got everyone a new chapter instead. Thank you. Thank you one thousand times over. I'm thinking about posting another fic here, and maybe some quick little one shots, but I'm going to focus on Wires for now.

"Tell me, Sollux," your brother growls as you brace yourself against the door frame, eyes wide, "What does a guy have to do around here to get a little sleep?"

"I'm sorry, Mituna! One of the girls from my grade almost was given the death sentence with no crime, and Karkat and Eridan just showed up, like you know they do sometimes."

Mituna's eyes blaze, his grip tight on your arm. You can tell he's dealing with a headache, and right now, it's kicking his ass.

This is probably the reason his hand reluctantly slips off your arm and he backs off a pace.

"Go. Don't let them do that shit again."

You give a frantic nod and a forced smile, and slip out the door, closing it softly. A sigh forces itself from your lungs and you start your car without thinking about it, pulling out and starting down the road.

You're so distracted that you barely have time to stop before you notice that you're going off the road and towards someone. You hit the brakes and swerve back onto the road, earning a loud honk as someone drives around you and shouts obscenities.

You pull over and stop, going to apologize to the person who you almost took out.

"Are you okay?" you ask, pausing until it registers with you who the person is.

"Aradia!" you exclaim, and notice the look on her face, "Oh, you're definitely not okay."

"It's nothing, Sollux. I'm fine. I'm okay," she says, her voice carrying a monotone pitch.

Your reason for shock was the small cut showing from under her masses of hair covering most of the right side of her face, the thin slice running down her freckled cheek in a curved line.

"Shouldn't you stay home today?" You inquire, moving a little closer to inspect the cut.

You freeze and back up as she tenses, clearly uncomfortable.

"I'm okay," she insists, and turns to continue walking. Her hair slips from her cheek, and you see the full extent of the damage, just for a second.

Starting from her forehead, right above her eyebrow, the cut starts, running all the way down her cheek, a bandage covering her eye.

You shudder, and call with all the volume you can muster, which isn't much, "I can give you a ride!"

She gives a small smile, and turns back towards you.

"Alright. But if you drive anything like you've been doing, I'll have to ask you to let me out."

You chuckle and head back, opening her door for her and then climbing into your side of the truck.

Since you were nearly there, it only takes a mere two minutes to get to school and park.

The both of you get out, heading in the front door.

"Thank god there was no swim practice," you say, trying to start a little conversation before things became too awkward.

"I don't think God is to thank. See you later, Sollux," she says grimly before disappearing into the masses, leaving you there.

You shake off the bad vibes and start roaming the hallways, hoping that with your tall advantage over most of the other teenagers, you'll find Vriska.

You don't find Vriska, but you manage to spot Terezi, which is close enough.

When you get to her, she's shoving people with her cane to get to her locker, and grinning wickedly.

You tap her back and say, "Hey, Terezi!"

She turns around and sticks her hand straight out, hitting you hard in the chest.

You wheeze and gasp for air as your lungs are forced to empty.

"Oh. Hey, Sollux!" she says with a smile, "Sorry if I hurt you. Kind of on edge, you know?"

Oh, you know on edge. Just being near this girl and her voice puts you there.

You manage to recover a bit of breath, and struggle to utter, "It's...okay. Have you...seen...Vriska?"

"Oh, yeah! She's hiding out at her sister's house, because she's too much of a backstabber to show her face is public right now." Terezi says with a concluding note, and turns to her locker.

"Ah...thanks," you say, turning and heading to homeroom.

The second you head in the door, Karkat rushes toward you, a questioning look on his face.

"Why are you so late?" he asks, or really, demands.

"Sorry, mom. I'll make sure to give you 30 minutes notice next time."

"You know what I mean."

"I was driving Aradia."

"Nice of you."

As if.

Wires.


	9. Barbed Wires

A/N - Hey pals. Friends. Chums. What a delight it is to see you. After a good seven months. I feel like every time I post it's been like half a year between. Shrugs. Here you are. It's an incredibly short chapter, but I'm just kind of letting y'all know I'm alive and writing.

By 3rd period, Vriska has shown up to school, apparently deciding against hiding out.

Walking into the classroom for Digital Media, you note the tension in the air, a certain absence of cackling missing. It's odd. You take a moment to think of why it seems different until it dawns on you.

They aren't talking.

They being Terezi and Vriska.

Terezi fiddles with her keyboard and wears something akin to a pained smirk, as opposed to her usual maniacal grin.

Vriska taps a nail repeatedly on the table, eyebrows drawn low over her eyes and jaw clenched.

You move to walk past them, seeing a window of opportunity.

"Sit the fuck down, Captor," Vriska growls.

You sigh and sit down between the two, wishing you'd picked a different seat at the beginning of the year.

The bell rings and the teacher dashes in, writing something on the board and quickly making his way out.

'Making copies, don't kill each other. Try and familiarize yourselves with basic HTML while I get the sheets printed.'

Huh. Free time, it is.

Terezi taps your shoulder and you close your eyes for a second and heave a sigh through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Terezi."

"Could you tell Vriska that she's an idiot, and I'm going to kick her ass after school."

You growl lowly, and whisper a harsh response, "You have a mouth too. A loud one. Why don't you try using it."

She puts on a mock pouty face, either too used to insults or too crazy to be offended.

You glare at her as Vriska clears her throat, and says with a grin, "Can you tell Terezi that her mom is a slut and that's why she never even knew her father?"

The amused expression disappears from Terezi's face, replaced by a look of pure fury. It's terrifying.

"Shut up, Vriska," she snaps, voice low and eyes narrowed.

"Maybe that's why she can't even parent you. Maybe that's why she ended up depending on my-"

Vriska is cut off as Terezi leaps over you and onto Vriska, shoving her out of the chair and pinning her to the floor. Vriska lashes up and punches Terezi on her jaw, trying to get up.

Terezi regains her feet and kicks Vriska's side, flipping her onto her stomach.

She grabs her cane and pushes it at the center of Vriska's back, putting a little pressure down.

Vriska yelps and looks furious, but has obviously lost.

"Terezi Pyrope! Vriska Serket! Principal's office, now!"

Ah, there's the teacher. Terezi reluctantly lets Vriska up and the two of them leave the room together, scowling.


End file.
